How to create an invoice: FreshBooks 101

August 31, 2007

In this ongoing series, we’ll demonstrate why FreshBooks is the smarter, faster alternative to small business accounting software.

How to create an invoice: four easy steps

FreshBooks has always been great for e-mail invoicing and time tracking, and this week we unveiled an all-new interface to make things even easier. To highlight our brand new design, we want to show you exactly how to create an invoice, from start to finish.

You can even e-mail the invoice to your client when you’re finished.

Watch how easy it is to create your first invoice!

1. Add yourself to FreshBooks

First, go here and add your company to FreshBooks.

Don’t worry, our free online invoicing service doesn’t have any silly time limits or missing features! We let you try everything at no cost.

Just enter your company name and e-mail address, and you’re ready to get started.

2. Enter your company’s information

The first thing you’ll see is your one-time setup page. This is where you enter the address that will appear on your invoices, and the currency you’ll be working in.

When you’re done, we’ll ask you what you’d like to do first. Go ahead and choose “create a client.”

3. Add your client’s details

Just enter your client’s name and e-mail address, and let us do the rest. If you’d like their mailing address to appear on the invoice, be sure to put that in there, too.

Now go ahead and save your client. We’ll let you know if anything needs to be changed.

Assuming all is well, you’ll immediately be asked what you’d like to do next. Choose “create an invoice,” and you’re nearly finished.

4. Create the invoice

Now for the fun part—getting paid!

Go ahead and enter the charges on the invoice. Each line gets a description, a quantity, and a unit cost, and you can have as many lines as you want. We handle all the math for you, so once you’re done entering the charges, just choose “save as draft” at the bottom of the page.

Take a look at the “print preview,” and voila—

Your first invoice!

How easy was that? Go ahead and print the invoice, because you’re all done.

With one more click, FreshBooks will even e-mail the invoice to your client, or send it to them through the postal service. The choice is yours.

Online invoicing is fast and easy with FreshBooks!

If you’re still creating invoices with Word, Excel, or some enormous accounting package, be sure to try FreshBooks! We’ve already got thousands of happy users, and we’re sure you’ll love it too.

Remember, it’s completely free to try, with no time limits and no missing features. So what are you waiting for? Create an invoice for yourself, and you’ll see just how easy it is.

about the author

FreshBooks is the #1 accounting software in the cloud designed to make billing painless for small businesses and their teams. Today, over 10 million small businesses use FreshBooks to effortlessly send professional looking invoices, organize expenses and track their billable time.